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This article is about the military vocation. For the pseudonymous author, see H. C. McNeile.

A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who sapped another's fortifications. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Combat engineers place satchel charges and detonating cord, preparatory to blowing up a railway bridge during the Korean War, 30 Jul 1950. ... Herman Cyril McNeile (1888 - 1937) was a British author, who published under the pseudonym Sapper. He was one of the most successful popular authors of the 1920s and 1930s; his principal character was Bulldog Drummond. ... Sapping, or undermining, was a siege method used in the Middle Ages against fortified castles. ...

When an army was defending a fortress with cannon, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's own guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire. This was achieved by digging what the French termed a 'Sape'. Using techniques developed and perfected by Vauban, the sapeurs (sappers) began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire 'enfilading' (passing directly along) the sape. As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which cannon could suppress the defenders on the bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging their way toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer and closer until (hopefully) the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for undermining to begin. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems. Vauban designed this pentagonal fortress to withstand sieges. ...

A sapper is an individual usually in British or Commonwealth military service. Called a combat engineer by the Americans, a pionier by the Germans and a génie by the French, a sapper may perform any of a variety of tasks under combat conditions. Such tasks typically include bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences as well as building, road and airfield construction and repair. In other words, the sapper's tasks now involve facilitating movement of allied forces and impeding movement of the enemy's.

Sapper (abbreviated Spr) is the Royal Engineers' equivalent of Private. This is also the case within the Royal Australian Engineers, where referring to a Sapper as a Private is considered an insult and can result in disciplinary charges being laid. The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE), commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ... A private is a military soldier of the lowest military rank (equivalent to Nato Rank Grades OR-1 to OR-3 depending on the force served in). ...

In France, the civil firefighters and the military firefighters of the Paris Fire Brigade are called "sappers-pumpers" (sapeurs-pompiers, SP): the first fire company created by Napoléon I was a military sappers company. Apart from this, the sappers are the combat engineers. Firefighter with an axe A firefighter, sometimes still called a fireman though women have increasingly joined firefighting units, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ... Fire engine of the Brigade Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris parading The Paris Fire Brigade, in French Brigade Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris(BSPP), is the fire service for the city of Paris and the surrounding departments of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine. ... French fire engine parading The sapeurs-pompiers (SP), officially le Corps du Sapeurs-Pompiers, are the firefighters of France. ... Bonaparte as general Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... A US army combat engineer setting up a communications cable. ...

See also

• Combat engineer